1. Field of the Invention.
This invention relates to vehicle passive seat belt restraint systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
Various passive seat belt systems have heretofore been suggested to automatically position either a single diagonal belt or combined lap and shoulder belts about a vehicle occupant. Typically, one end of the seat webbing is attached to a door adjacent a seat in the vehicle and the other end is attached on the inboard side of the seat, with at least one of the ends being attached to a seat belt retractor for storing and permitting extension of the webbing. For example, one end of the webbing may be attached to a door through a fixed anchor and the other end of the webbing attached to an inboard emergency locking retractor.
One of the problems associated with such previous systems is that the retractor rewind springs are relatively strong due to the increased amount of webbing associated with the system as compared with a conventional active seal belt system. As a result, after the webbing has been partially retracted, it is taken up at a relatively high speed which may be objectionable or even injurious to the occupant. It has been proposed to alleviate such problem by including a device which slows down the rewind speed of the webbing. However, with such design it is possible for the webbing to get caught in the door as the door is being closed due to the decreased rewind speed.
It would be desirable to provide a passive seat belt system which rectifies the above-mentioned problems.